Butterfly Dream: Shared Driveway Haiku by David Cobb

English Original

leaves falling --

the shared driveway

suddenly all mine

Blithe Spirit, 6:1, 1996

David Cobb

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

樹葉紛紛飄落 --

車庫門前的共用車道

突然全是我的

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

树叶纷纷飘落 --

车库门前的共用车道

突然全是我的

Bio Sketch

David Cobb was a British educational writer and champion of English-language haiku and haibun genres. He founded the British Haiku Society in 1990 and served as its president from 1997 to 2002. He won four Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards, and the 1997 collection of haibun, Spring Journey to the Saxon Shore, established him as the "initiator of the haibun in Britain."

One Man’s Maple Moon: Goodwill Bin Tanka by Peggy Heinrich

English Original

dropping 

the sweater I knit him

into the Goodwill bin ...

a snow plow 

clears the road

Forward Moving Shadows, 2012

Peggy Heinrich

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我把織給他的毛衣

丟進善意舊貨店

的收集箱 ...

一輛鏟雪車

在清理道路

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我把织给他的毛衣

丢进善意旧货店

的收集箱 ...

一辆铲雪车

在清理道路

Bio Sketch

Peggy Heinrich's haiku had appeared in almost every haiku journal both nationally and internationally and in many anthologies. Awards include Top Prize in the Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest in both 2009 and 2010. Peeling an Orange, a collection of her haiku with photographs by John Bolivar, was published in 2009 by Modern English Tanka Press. Forward Moving Shadows, a collection of her tanka, with photographs by John Bolivar, was published in 2012.

Poetic Musings: River and Sea Haiku by Kala Ramesh

I dip my feet

in a river the river
joins the sea

Moongarlic, 4, May 2016

Kala Ramesh

Commentary: The way I see it, three totally different images weave in and out of a 12-word poem:

I dip my feet

in a river

in a river the river

the river

joins the sea

Think back to the linking equation mentioned earlier (verse C links to preceding verse B and shifts away from verse A). In this poem, we have the feet at one end of the equation (A) and the sea at the other (C). On a larger scale, one small life (feet) is being connected to something larger, the cosmos (sea), through the steady flow of existence (river). By overlapping, the images create the necessary resonance: The narrator and her feet don’t literally join the sea, but the resonance shows how everything is connected, in the same way that “petals on a wet, black bough” provide a new way to see the crowd’s faces in Ezra Pound’s famous “In a Station of the Metro”—another poem that relies on superposition for its impact.

-- -- excerpted from "To the Lighthouse: Link and Shift: The Leap in Our Understanding by Kala Ramesh"

A Room of My Own: O Canada! Our home and native land!

reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XIV

O Canada! Our home and native land!

written in response to the theme for Asian Heritage Month 2022: Continuing a "legacy of greatness”

foreign experience

doesn't count in this country

he repeats ...

on the way home I feel

my feet sticking in asphalt

the Maple Leaf

flapping in summer heat ...

no Canadian experience

no job... no job

no Canadian experience

former lecturer 

now my new coworker 

at the cafe counter 

murmuring, immigrant life

is best understood backwards

from the glass jar

I grasp coins, one day’s worth

of tips

at an upscale cafe ...

my first Canadian experience

poem after poem

I write myself, an immigrant,

into Silence --

the void place where I wait

for you, Canada, to read

FYI: The title is taken from the first line of Canada's national anthem

Added: Three Hundred and Fortieth Entry,  Coronavirus Poetry Diary

laid off ...

drifting among strangers 

six feet apart

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, XV

rain-stained chalk scrawl: 

this unhoused person's body

as his last address

Added: written in response both to Ottawa Citizen's May 17 opinion column: "Who won the final 2022 Ontario election debate?" and to the Apocryphal Mark Twain, who claimed, Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.

election debate

one stray barks at another

barking at another

Hot News: A New Milestone, 1.4 M Pageviews and Call for Submissions

 My Dear Friends:

Launched on the first day of 2013, NeverEnding Story crossed the 1.4 million view mark last night (FYI: On November 5, 2021, NeverEnding Story crossed the 1.3 million view mark).

I am grateful to everyone who has been a part of this poetry journey. And look forward to reading your haiku and tanka. 

And join NeverEnding Story to celebrate Tanka Poetry Month and expand the readership base for tanka by tweeting at least one tanka a day throughout the month of May. The hashtags for Tanka Poetry Month are #MayTanka and #NaTankaMo. Please help spread the word about this celebration via your poetry blogs, websites, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts. 

And NeverEnding Story seeks the tanka that can bite and bite hard. 

What poetry can, must, and will always do for us: it complicates us, it doesn't "soothe."

-- Jorie Graham

The Dagger of a Poet's Mind

for Lawrence Ferlinghetti, author of "Poetry as Insurgent Art."

Strive to change the world in such a way that there’s no further need to be a dissident. Read between the lives, and write between the lines. Be committed to something outside yourself. 

arrested 

after the Free Expression March

and asked 

if I carry a weapon ...

I hand over my pen

the blood

crusting to claret

on the paper ...

in the jail cell my words

stronger than steel bars

Happy Reading and Writing throughout Tanka Poetry Month

Chen-ou

Butterfly Dream: Inhale-Exhale-Drive Haiku by Carole Johnston

English Original

turn off radio

deep inhale-exhale-drive

focus on -- rain

Journeys: Getting Lost, 2015

Carole Johnston

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

關掉收音機

深深吸氣--呼氣--的駕車旅遊

全心全意地關注--雨

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

关掉收音机

深深吸气--呼气--的驾车旅游

全心全意地关注--雨

Bio Sketch

Carole Johnston has been writing Japanese short form poetry for twelve years and has published haiku and tanka in various print and online journals. Her first chapbook, Journeys: Getting Lost, was published  in  2015 by Finishing Line Press. Retired from teaching, she drives around writing poems about landscape. Visit her on Twitter (@morganabag) to read more of her poetry.

One Man's Maple Moon: Rainy Evening Tanka by Saito Mokichi

English Original

do lament

when you fly in the sky

above this country --

geese heading south

on a rainy evening

 

The Prism of Mokichi, 2013 

Saito Mokichi

 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

應該感嘆

當你駕駛戰機在這個國家

的天空中飛行 --

一個下雨的晚上

一群大雁南下

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

应该感叹

当你驾驶战机在这个国家

的天空中飞行 --

一个下雨的晚上

一群大雁南下

 

 

Bio Sketch

Saito Mokichi (May 14, 1882 -- February 25, 1953) was a psychiatrist and one of the most successful practitioners of the new tanka. In 1913, he published Shakko (Red Lights), a book that created a great impression not only on tanka poets but also on the literary world in general. In 1951, he received the Order of Culture.

One Man's Maple Moon: Old Letter Tanka by Praniti Gulyani

English Original

yet again

I unfold an old letter ...

what it takes

to accept the woman

I am now

Praniti Gulyani 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

然而再次

我展開一封舊信 ...

需要多少時間和精力

去接受我是

眼前的這位女人

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

然而再次

我展开一封旧信 ...

需要多少时间和精力

去接受我是

眼前的这位女人

Bio Sketch

An avid practitioner of the Japanese short forms of poetry, Praniti Gulyani aspires to become a full time writer when she grows up. She has published a print collection of haiku, and an ebook of haibun, both of which have been reviewed by world renowned haiku poets.

Butterfly Dream: Half-Moon Haiku by Pravat Kumar Padhy

English Original

half-moon --

the child wonders

the rest

The Mainichi, 2010

Pravat Kumar Padhy 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

半月 --

孩子想知道

其餘的部分

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

半月--

孩子想知道

其余的部分

Bio Sketch

Pravat Kumar Padhy, a poet-scientist, did his Masters and Ph.D from IIT-Dhanbad, India. Work referred in Spectrum History of Indian Literature in English, Alienation in Contemporary Indian English Poetry etc. His Japanese short form of poetry appeared in many international journals. He is a recipient of Editor’s Choice Awards, Special and Honourable Mentions. His fourth collection of verses, Ripple of Resonance, is in press.

A Room of My Own: The President and The Boy

written in response to Time Magazine cover story of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky:  "Inside Zelensky's World"

the  boulevard 

now a maze of checkpoints ...

moonlight peeking 

through sandbags in the windows

of the presidential compound

days fly like an hour

an hour crawls like weeks ...

in the shelter

artillery fire on the screen

a world of his own

new creases

in the president's face ...

for a moment 

the boy turns off his phone

to breathe the world anew

Added: 

The First Day of an Endless Nightmare

a midnight call,

It’s started... it's started

everything blurs

together in endless hours

of packing, running to nowhere

smoky twilight ...

residential streets choked

with rubble

shattered glass and debris 

(broken hearts and dreams)

a girl crying

as neighbors zip her mother

into the body bag ...

mom, mom, get out of there

your sunflowers are dying

the collapsed dome

of an Orthodox church --

peace like something

prayed for by an old man

with his mouth sewn shut

Butterfly Dream: Snowlight Haiku by Dorothy McLaughlin

English Original

no moon

looking outdoors

into snowlight

tinywords, 11:1, April 4, 2011

Dorothy McLaughlin

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

沒有月亮

觀看戶外景色

凝視雪光

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

没有月亮

观看户外景色

凝视雪光

Bio Sketch

Dorothy McLaughlin's poems had been inspired by her husband, daughter, son, and grandsons, her native Massachusetts, forty-five years in Somerset, New Jersey, her interest in history and mythology, and teaching. Her haiku had appeared in bottle rockets, Frogpond, Modern Haiku, tinywords, South by Southeast, and other journals and anthologies.

Special Feature: Selected Haiku and Tanka Selected for Mother's Day

                                                               New Life

                                                               for courageous yet struggling Ukrainian mothers

                                                               and the newborns of war:

                                                                                              

                                                               cellar shelter

                                                               her newborn suckles

                                                               in sleep 

                                                               smoke-filled sky

                                                               beyond the cellar window ...

                                                               look on her baby's face

                                                               another 

                                                               night of artillery fire

                                                               her breastmilk runs dry

                                                               Chen-ou Liu

My Dear Readers:

Today is Mother's Day, a day of honoring mothers and grandmothers for their contributions to our families, communities and society. I would like to share with you the following haiku and tanka about the different stages and impacts of motherhood:

breastfeeding

the slow drip of rain

on the nursery roof

     

Vanessa Proctor

midnight rain

not yet used to

motherhood

Pragya Vishnoi

mother’s blanket

the worn corners

of warmth

Rachel Sutcliffe

our laughter flows

from one street block

to another ...

mother's garden hose

spouting a rainbow

Chen-ou Liu

my mother

forgets morning glory ...

sitting by the window

she grows the flower

in her heart

Ikuyo Yoshimura

I brush

my mother’s hair

the sparks 

Peggy Willis Lyles

immobile for weeks 

I dream of my mother

playing her bagpipes

in the moonlit street ...

how we danced wild and free

Joyce Budenberg

mother’s log books:

rainfall in mm

sun in degrees

all these comings and goings

on the stage of her life

Sandra Stephenson 

Mother's Day --

although I know she's gone,

I knock

and wait for the distant

mountain to grow green

Rita Odeh

To conclude today's Special Feature Mother's Day post, I would like to share with you the following tanka written for courageous yet struggling Ukrainians who are missing their mothers today

a bouquet

of carnations wrapped

in moonlight 

all that is left

are childhood memories

Happy Mother's Day

Chen-ou

One Man’s Maple Moon: Father's Shoulders Tanka by Michael McClintock

English Original

I’ve this memory --

riding my father’s shoulders

into the ocean,

the poetry of things

before I could speak

Tanka of Michael McClintock, Pinterest, 2011

Michael McClintock

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

    

我有這樣的記憶 --

騎在父親的肩膀上

走進大海，

在我學會說話之前

體驗事物的詩意

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我有这样的记忆 --

骑在父亲的肩膀上

走进大海，

在我学会说话之前

体验事物的诗意

Bio Sketch

Michael McClintock's lifework in haiku, tanka, and related literature spans over four decades. His many contributions to the field include six years as president of the Tanka Society of America (2004-2010) and contributing editor, essayist, and poet for dozens of journals, anthologies, landmark collections and critical studies. McClintock now lives in Clovis, California, where he works as an independent scholar, consultant for public libraries, and poet. Meals at Midnight [tanka], Sketches from the San Joaquin [haiku] and Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, are some of his recent titles.

Butterfly Dream: Leafless Tree Haiku by Carol Purington

English Original

leafless tree

its branches full

of setting sun

Haiku Art, 2016

Carol Purington 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

光禿禿的樹

它的樹枝充滿

夕陽

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

光秃秃的树

它的树枝充满

夕阳

Bio Sketch

Carol Purington used tanka to capture flashes of natural loveliness and psychological insight that drifted around her rural New England home. Her second collection of tanka, Faces I Might Wear, was published in 2013.

Butterfly Dream: Alley Frost Haiku by Chuck Brickley

English Original

alley frost

except

where he slept

Earthshine, 2017

Chuck Brickley

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

覆蓋小巷的霜

他睡覺的地方

排除在外

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

覆盖小巷的霜

他睡觉的地方

排除在外

Bio Sketch

A native San Franciscan, Chuck Brickley lived in rural British Columbia for 35 years. His book of haiku, earthshine, won the THF Touchstone Award for Distinguished Books 2017; the HSA Merit Book Award 2017, Honorable Mention; and the inaugural Marianne Bluger Book Award 2020, Honourable Mention. His haibun,“Is Where The Car Is," was nominated for a Pushcart Prize 2018, and another haibun, "A Banishing," received a Sonders Best Small Fiction Award nomination, 2019